LG G7 to be scrapped, development to start again from scratch

LG Electronics vice chairman Jo Seong-jin has reportedly told the company's mobile division to scrap all development of the G7 smartphone and start again from scratch. The news comes via Korean news outlet The Investor, which adds the new smartphone may now be launched in April, instead of the suspected February or March unveiling.

An exact date hasn't been confirmed just yet though, with an anonymous source telling The Korea Herald that the launch date will be announced around the Lunar New Year holiday which starts on 16 February and lasts for around two weeks.

The source adds that the reason for the G7 being scrapped is because "the company hasn't been able to find a strong selling point" for it. Although it should be noted this is just speculation for now.

The G7 is expected to feature minor upgrades over the G6, such as slimmer bezels and facial recognition technology, so LG may now be looking for a way to make the G7 better than the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9, which is expected to be unveiled at MWC.

LG has already made the announcement that it will no longer be sticking to annual phone launch cycles, although it wasn't clear if that would come into effect immediately, or with the next flagship phone, which would be the follow-up to the V30.

There has also been speculation surrounding the name of the new device; G7 is the logical option, although LG has said itself that has been looking at new naming options for its flagship phones.

As with all leaks and rumours this should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially as if development will in fact start from scratch, then it takes more than two months to develop a new smartphone, so we're a little tentative to say the least.

Our eyes will be glued to MWC still to see if LG has any further announcements to make.